Main menu

How You Can Help Bahamian Victims of Hurricane Dorian (Updated Sept 9/19)

September 1, 2019

Residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama have been devastated by Hurricane Dorian. Hundreds of lives have been lost, and the majority of those who survived have been left with nothing but the clothing they had on.

Bahamians affected by Hurricane Dorian will need as much help as we can give them in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Here are some of the many ways to help:

Rotary District 7020 (Caribbean and Bahamas) is assisting with the hurricane relief effort by providing relief supplies, assisting evacuees, coordinating housing and more. Click HERE to learn more and to donate. For more information, email rotary7020relief@gmail.com

Bahamian relief agency HeadKnowles is spearheading a massive relief effort for the victims of Hurricane Dorian. Here’s their GoFundMe page

Donations can also be made to HeadKnowles’ RBC bank account # 2883452 – Palmdale Branch (Nassau) 05745. (Please email a screenshot or scan of your deposit receipt to HeadKnowles@gmail.com when you’re done.)

To make a corporate donation to HeadKnowles or contribute a plane/vessel to help transport relief supplies and evacuate storm victims, please CONTACT ME and I’ll provide contact information for Lia Head-Rigby, founder of HeadKnowles.

HeadKnowles is also gathering material donations for those affected by the hurricane. Items in greatest need are:

The Green Turtle Cay Foundation has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds that will be distributed to affected Bahamian residents of Green Turtle Cay. Partnering with the GTC Foundation is the Green Turtle Club/Friends of Empty Pockets, whose own GoFundMe page is raising funds for the Foundation. (The Green Turtle Cay Foundation was founded by longtime GTC supporter Dixon Montague. Current board members include Allen Crosswell, Phillip Smith, Patrick Koenig, Sr. and Giselle McIntosh. The Foundation is a 501c3 charity, so donations are tax deductible.)

The Green Turtle Cay Foundation has also established several collection locations in southern Florida to which relief supplies for Green Turtle Cay may be delivered. (A list of items most in demand is shown below.) These items should be clearly labelled showing Green Turtle Cay as the final destination, and may be delivered or shipped to:

Green Turtle Cay’s Bluff House Beach Resort has set up a GoFundMe page to benefit the Green Turtle Cay community. Funds will be used to buy tarps, tents, portable stoves, work gloves, machetes, solar lamps, and other emergency and rebuilding supplies.

Contribute to Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue‘s hurricane relief fund through their PayPal account – use email address htvfr.foundation@gmail.com. Funds raised through this initiative will support the recovery effort on Elbow Cay/Hope Town.

Hope Town second-homeowner Matt Winslow is working with the Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue folks to raise funds and bring in aid. Here’s a link to his GoFundMe page.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to benefit Guana Fire and Rescue, led by Troy Albury. Funds raised through this effort will be allocated by Guana Fire and Rescue to the people of Guana Cay.

Another Guana Cay GoFundMe page has been set up by Katie Hoog, girlfriend of Guana Cay’s Ricky Sands. Funds will be used to purchase survival supplies, evacuation helicopters and boats, temporary housing, medical supplies and building materials.

Marsh Harbour boat captain, Errol Thurston and his wife, Mercedes have set up a GoFundMe page to benefit the people of Abaco affected by Hurricane Dorian. Donations will help purchase survival supplies (water, food, toiletries, medical items) as well as items needed for cleanup and rebuilding. The Thurstons are also collecting donations of relief supplies at various sites throughout Florida, and have secured boats, planes and fuel to transport items over to Abaco. For more information, email errolthurstonbahamas@gmail.com. Donations can be brought to any of the following locations:

Canadian organization Global Medic is shipping “Family Emergency Kits” and other relief supplies to the Bahamian regions affected by Hurricane Dorian. Click HERE to learn more and to donate.

Water Mission (whose founders, George Greene and his late wife, Molly, have been long-time GTC second-homeowners), is providing clean drinking water to Bahamians affected by Hurricane Dorian. Thanks to a generous sponsor, all donations will be matched, up to $1 million. Click HERE to learn more and donate.

Bahamian Life, a Bahamian-owned company that produces Bahamas-inspired fishing & diving apparel, has created a special, limited-edition t-shirt. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of this item (which comes in men’s and women’s sizes) will be donated to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts in the Bahamas.

Key West Cares – For more than 40 years, the settlement of New Plymouth (on Green Turtle Cay) and the city of Key West have been sister cities. Now, city officials, the business community, churches and general population of Key West are uniting to help the residents of Green Turtle Cay affected by Hurricane Dorian. Key West Cares is collecting financial donations and coordinating volunteers, vessels and planes to help with delivering aid. Learn more at their Facebook page.

Important Note: I am neither affiliated nor involved with any of the above relief efforts. Nor am I in a position to formally audit or endorse any of them. It’s true that these are groups and organizations to which I would be personally comfortable contributing. But you should always do your own due diligence and ensure your own comfort level before supporting any charity or relief group.

5 comments for “How You Can Help Bahamian Victims of Hurricane Dorian (Updated Sept 9/19)”

I live in Virginia. I do not want to send money but donate clothes, hotel size toileteries, towels, toilet paper, etc etc. where can i drop off the many boxes of supplies and clothes in woodbridge, va. area.
thanks. Milene Kent 703 618-5368.

Got photos of Abaco you'd like to share with LHBTF readers? Send them to amanda (at) littlehousebytheferry (dot) com. You'll get full photo credit as well as a link back to your personal or business website.

This blog represents the convergence of some of my favourite things – writing, Bahamian history, Green Turtle Cay, and Fish Hooks, my ancestral home. Here, I share our Abaco adventures and document the restoration of Fish Hooks, an 84-yr-old cottage built by my great-grandparents on Green Turtle Cay, one of the Abaco Cays in the Bahamas.